Propeller



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Witnesses:

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Uran sfrnrns Parar orare A. BURBANK, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

PROPELLER FOR CANAL-BOATS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 20,862, dated July 13, 1858.

i and State of New York, have invented certain Improvements Relating tothe Construction and Propulsion of Canal-Boats; and I do hereby declarethat the following is a full and exact description thereof, referencebeing made to the accompanying drawings and to the letters of referencemarked thereon.

T he nat-ure of my invention relates 1st to a propeller shaft soconstructed and arranged that it may be moved in a. longitudinaldirection any distance from one to live feet (more or less) and supportthe propeller on the end thereof, so that the propeller may be projectedoutwardly, to get a good hold upon the water, and drawn inwardly towardthe boat and close up to, or under the stern, when passing locks, Sac.;2d, in Vconstructing the rudder with a notch or recess therein ofsufficient size to receive the propeller and allow it to work therein,and so that the rudder will swing clear, of the propeller, and at thesame time guard and protect the propeller.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention I willproceed to describe its construction and operation.

Figure I, is a longitudinal section of the boat showing in elevation theconstruction and arrangement, of the rudder propeller, and propellershaft. Fig. II, is a cross section of the propeller shaft.

A, represents the rudder. It is constructed so as to make a notch orrecess in the part neXt to the boat, and so that it will swing over andbeyond the propeller. It is connected to the tiller post (E,) the tillerpost being also made fast to the stern, by means of two hinge joints, asshown at b o. Its whole width is about eight and one half feet. Thisallows of a notch or recess of about live feet next to the boat, so thatthe propeller may have a horizontal movement (to and fro) of from one tofive feet, without coming in contact with the rudder. This will leavethe rudder about three and one half feet wide in all its parts outwardlyfrom the recess, with a longitudinal width of about eight feet above thepropeller. A bar of iron (c) is made fast to the lower end of therudder, which bar is hinged to a projection from the keel, asrepresented at d. This joint (d) is on a line with the tiller posts andjoints Z) b. It will be noticed that this construction and arrangementof the rudder, affords protect-ion to the propeller and will prevent thetow lines from other boats from catching thereon, and will also serve toprotect the propeller from floating obstacles. This arrangement alsogives the rudder a suflicient hold upon the water, for all the purposesof steering the boat.

F, represents the propeller shaft. It works in a stuiiing boX (g)through the stern, and in a hollow shaft (H) within the boat. It has aprojecting nib (i in Fig. II) which slides in a groove made in thehollow shaft as shown in Fig. II. This rib prevents the shaft fromturning in the hollow shaft and at the same time allows of alongitudinal movement therein. II, hollow shaft. This has itsappropriate bearings in the supports J J. The crank wheel (K) isattached to this hollow shaft, and power is applied thereto in the usualmanner. This of course will drive the propeller shaft in any part of itslongitudinal movement.

L, is a lever, with a fulcrum at a and an appropriate clutch on thepropeller shaft at t, by which the steersman can give the pro pellershaft any required longitudinal movement, without disturbing itsrevolving motion. This lever may be made in a manner common for likepurposes.

M, is a prolongation of the keel, or a projection therefrom, for thepurpose of connecting and hinging the rudder bar (o) thereto. N,propeller. A propeller of any desirable form may be used in thisarrangement. O, tiller; P, stern; R, keel; S, deck.

My improvement allows me to apply steam power to the propulsion of canalboats in a simple and economical manner, without materially lesseningthe tonnage capacity of the boat, and to give the propeller a positionand protection in a full body of water when the boat is under way.

Another object is its adaptation to boats already constructed.

My improvement allows me to use boats of as large tonnage capacity ascan pass the locks and enables me to propel t-he boat by one propeller,and to place it in a position, Where the Water has at all t-irnesunrudder, having a notch or recess therein to obstructed access to thepropeller from all receive the propeller for the purposes anddirections. substantially as herein set forth.

Vhat I claim as my invention and desire ABNER BURBANK. 5 to secure byLetters Patent, is- Witnesses:

A propeller and shaft, movable in a lon- JAMES M. DUNDAS, git-udinaldirection in combination With a VALTER IRY,

